Short Story: A Twist on Snow White

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” Queen Evly said, staring into her ornate mirror. The answer she expected was that she was the fairest of them all.

But this time, the mirror surprised her. “You are fair, my queen, but Snow White is more fair than you.”

Evly sighed. She had seen it coming for years–her husband’s daughter becoming more beautiful than her. She didn’t like it–for what reason she did not know.

But what to do about it? She could kill the girl, and have it over with, but she had never killed anyone before and besides she loved her husband dearly, and he loved her and he loved his daughter, so she wouldn’t kill the girl–for his sake.

She needed to do something though. So she called Snow White to chat.

When Snow White entered the room, Evly smiled and showed her to a chair.

“Why have you called me to tea, Stepmother?” Snow White said.

“Just to chat, although I do have a few concerns.” Evly said.

“What concerns?” the little girl said. She was beautiful–but still very young. She was just a young teen.

“Well–” Evly started. Then she went to the mirror. “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” she murmured, her breath fogging up the glass.

“You are beautiful, my queen, but Snow White is far more fair than you.” the mirror replied.

“See?” Evly said.

Snow White had a slight smile on her face. “That’s the first time anybody other than my father has called me beautiful.”

“Well–” Evly said, then relaxed. She suddenly didn’t care anymore. The thing was, when Snow White had said that that was the first time anybody other than her father had called her beautiful, she felt like she had rejected this poor girl! She wanted to love her–like a daughter. She had always wanted a daughter. “It’s not a concern. It just made me realize that someday you will be ruling queen, and I need to teach you the queenly sorts of things.”

Snow White smiled. “I always wanted a mother.”

“I always wanted a daughter.” Evly surprised herself by saying. “Now, should we have some tea?”